Oprah Donates $365,000!

Oprah rewards Ron Clark Academy $365,000 Christmas present

By Rodney Ho | Wednesday, December 31, 2008, 11:49 AM

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

ABOVE: Ron Clark at his school soon after announcing the Oprah gift on New Year’s Eve 2008. CREDIT: Rodney Ho/rho@ajc.com

Oprah Winfrey gave the local Ron Clark Academy a surprise Christmas gift: $365,000.

Ron Clark, an enthusiastic, innovative educator featured in a 2006 TNT film starring Matthew Perry, said he got a Fedex package on Christmas Eve with no indication what it might be. Normally, he said he has an assistant vet his mail but he saw the package and decided to open it himself.

It was a personal note from Oprah herself. She had been tracking the school’s progress and was thinking about who to give a big present to this year. She decided Clark’s school was deserving and figured $1,000 a day, or $365,000, was apropos. His school, which needs about $2.4 million to operate per year, is in South Atlanta.

He said the extra money will enable him to provide 26 full scholarships for a year. This month, his academy also received $300,000 from Tony Cann, vice chairman of Promethean Ltd, the leading manufacturer of collaborative classrooms systems.

Here’s the video of the announcement:

"Dear Obama" for Oprah - Ron Clark Academy

ABOVE: Ron Clark (right) has a laugh with Evonna Bruner, wife of his assistant Lazarus Bruner. That’s their son Jalen at bottom left.

ABOVE: Ron Clark confers with two sixth graders Jordan Jones (left) and Rashad Sherrell. “He brings so much energy to the school,” Jones said.

Currently, the school has 78 students from fifth to seventh grade. Next year, he plans to expand to 108. Since it opened in the fall of 2007, the school has also trained more than 4,800 educators from around the world on his teaching methods.

Clark has a history with Oprah. After he won Disney Teacher of the Year in 2001, Oprah brought him on her show. And after he wrote a book about his teaching philosophy, she brought him back in 2003. Since then, he has kept her informed through personal notes to her assistant. He said he had no clue if she ever read them but when she called him last week to talk to him personally, it was clear she had read his past notes and went on his Web site regularly.

He informed his kids to come to the school for a special surprise announcement on New Year’s Eve at 10 a.m. and gave them the news. He also taped a video of them doing their Barack Obama rap song/dance.

If all goes well, it’s fairly certain Oprah will invite Clark and the students up to her studios in Chicago to talk about the school and the dance./song.

ABOVE: Ron Clark gabs with parents Pamela Bryant (left) and Marva Merriweather (right). “”I’m still in shock,” Merriweather said over the Oprah gift.

children to attend the school for one year, Clark said. The 80-student middle school depends almost entirely on donations to operate.

In her letter, to Clark, Winfrey calls him a role model and applauds the "profound difference you're making with your passion for teaching."

The check was issued by the Oprah Winfrey Foundation, which gave $4 million to educational programs in 2008, said foundation executive director Caren Yanis.

Clark and his students became overnight stars during the presidential election when a video of the students performing a political rap they wrote grabbed the public's attention on YouTube. The children ended up performing the rap, called "Vote However U Like," on national TV shows including CNN and BET.

Teachers at the school frequently use rapping, dancing and drumming to help students learn.

Clark has appeared on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" twice — once when he was named Disney American Teacher of the Year in 2000 and again when his book made the New York Times best-seller list.